can appendicitis be chronic?

Question

Can chronic appendicitis be treated by taking antibiotics?

Answer 1

No: Appendicitis is not chronic. It is possible to have chronic irritation to the appendix, but it is not a chronic infection. If infected, the appendix is removed. However, even after an appendectomy, it is possible to get appendicitis again. Usually a little stump of the appendix is left and this can, rarely, get infected again.

Answer 2

Yes: It can especially if you are middle aged or older. What has happened is you have had small repeated infections, and now have a chronic condition. It isn't the most common presentation, but can happen.

Answer 3

Exceptionally rare.: 99.9% of the time, inflammation of the appendix will lead to rupture within 2-4 days if left untreated. "chronic" appendicitis represents the very rare patient whose appendicitis resolves without treatment, only to recur at a later time. Nevertheless, if i were to evaluate someone with chronic abdominal pain, this would be very low on my "differential diagnosis".

Answer 4

Yes, but....: Some people will respond to IV antibiotics in a hospital setting, however most people won't and we have no reliable way to predict who will get better and who will get (much) sicker. Therefore, in all but the most unusual circumstances, the benefit of surgery far outweighs the risk.

Answer 5

Not usually: If an appendictis is treated with just antibiotics, it may improve but the chances of recurrent attacks is high. So, the appendix shoudl be removed surgically.

Answer 6

Days: Appendicitis is an acute illness which leads to rupture if not treated within days of it's onset. Once in a blue moon, the body will seal off the rupture, leading to a prolonged low-level infection that can "simmer" for weeks; however, most people have so much pain prior to rupture that they seek out medical attention before this can occur.

Answer 7

Until fixed: Rarely it fixes itself! most will cause one to have an appendectomy. Some perforate and cause a lot of trouble. Their are some few reported with a chronic recurring pattern and later surgery.

Answer 8

Usually: The symptoms are of 24-48 hours of worsening abdominal pain, pain moving into right lower abdomen, nausea sometimes with vomiting ; fever, abdominal pain may get worse with movement or walking.

Answer 9

"stomach ache": Appendicitis usually begins with ill-defined abdominal pains not unlike a "normal" stomach ache, often associated with nausea and a poor appetite. Typically within 24 hrs, the pain appears to change, becoming sharp, constant, and well-localized to the right lower abdomen.

Answer 10

Abdominal pain: May be mild, increase, move to right lower abdomen and focus and intensify loss of appetite, nausea and occ vomiting may also be early and confuse with gastroenteritis.

Answer 11

Ruptured cyst/Crohns: It is often difficult to distinguish inflammation in the right ovary or fallopian tube from appendicitis. Therefore, a ruptured ovarian cyst or pelvic inflammatory disease can look just like appendicitis. In men or women, inflammatory bowel disease or diverticulitis can have similar symptoms and signs. Though not perfect, cat scans have helped differentiate these diseases.

Answer 12

Several: Crohn's small bowel disease illeal lymphadenitis meckel's diverticulitis tubal disease in females diverticulitis pelvic inflammatory disease gonorrhea kidney stone on right many other items.

Answer 13

Everyone's different: In my experience, about 1/2 of all people that i see with appendicitis come in with classic signs and symptoms that make the decision to operate quite easy. However, there is a lot of variability in the description and location of the pain, as well as other diseases that can resemble appendicitis. Added to this is the fact that we want to operate as soon as possible, before the appendix ruptures.

Answer 14

CAT SCANS help.: In the modern era, ct's of the abdomen have been very helpful for diagnosing appendicitis for the non-classic presentations. In the past, it was not uncommon to operate for appendicitis only to find a normal appendix 10-15% of the time. Thanks to ct scans, this 'negative appendectomy' rate has decreased. Of course, there are radiation risks associated with ct scans' so we have to be selective.

can appendicitis be chronic?

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